The gard'ner now for juft revenge up fprung, And fiercely in his turn purfued the knight! At length the gard'ner, fwell'd with rage and dolor, And blefs'd with fav'rite oaths, abundance fhow'rs; - Just like a cart-horfe on my beds to trample, More than your foul is worth, to kill my flow'rs! Mindlefs of all the gard'ner's plaintive ftrains, "Gone is my foul's defire, for ever gone!". And now he let Sir Jofeph's collar go; And now he bray'd aloud with bittereft woe, 66 “ Mad, madder than the maddeft of March hares! "A p-x confound the fellow's Bedlam rigs! But now the gard'ner, terrified began To Peter Pindar, Efq. we acknowlege ourselves indebted for a hearty laugh, while employed in the foregoing extract from this comic tale; and we are much mistaken if Sir J. B. himself, had had he been at our elbow, while we were tranfcribing the lines, would not have equally enjoyed the joke. It is faid that he is no enemy to a little harmless ridicule; and, if fo, he would only have found himself tickled, not hurt: for hurt no individual can be, by a fatire that applies, generally, to every collector of natural hiftory, but not, with any peculiarity, to himself. G. ART. XIII. The Amicable Quixote; or the Enthufiafm of Friendfhip. 12mo. 4 Vols. 10s. fewed. Walter. 1788. T O improve the virtues of the heart, and to give pleasure to our feelings, are the principal objects which the writer of a novel fhould keep conftantly in view. Perhaps, indeed, the latter may be confidered as the way which moft certainly leads. to the accomplishment of the former. The fame deftination which Bishop Lowth*, in his elegant Prelections, points out as fubfifting between the poet and the philofopher, extends to the preacher, and to the novelift. The office of poetry is to perfuade, of philofophy to convince. In the one cafe, the feelings are addrefled; in the other, the underftanding is the object. The philofopher reprefents truth and virtue in their naked and unornamented ftate, but delineates them with fuch accurate juftness and mafterly force, that reafon immediately acknowleges their excellence, and judgment is fatisfied with its decilion. The poet embellishes them with all the decorations of fancy, and paints them in the most fafcinating colours which the imagination can fuggeft, and thus allures the affections of the heart to cultivate and embrace them. One of the offices of the preacher is to inculcate the duties of morality to teach mankind what they owe to themselves, and to their fellow-creatures; to defcribe the exact point where virtue ceases, and where vice appears; to fhew that the propriety of most feelings confifts in their moderation, in their maintaining an equal diftance from the one, and the oppofite All this the preacher endeavours to accomplish by demonftrating, in a cool didactic manner, the truth of his affertions; he addreffes the understanding in fuch a way as to render it impoffible that it fhould refift his evidence, and thinks that the paffive obedience of the affections is a neceffary and unavoidable confequence of the conviction produced on, and the affent beflowed by, the judgment. The novelift has a fimilar duty to difcharge; he likewife is to inftru&t us with respect to the conduct of life, to rectify our errors, to increafe the number, and to enhance the value, of our Vide" Prælectionem primam de Poetica Fine & Utilitate." virtues. virtues. To gain this defirable end, he is entrusted with powers nearly as large and as ample as thofe of the poet; he may indulge in various flights of fancy, and excurfions of genius; he is permitted to collect, combine, amplify, and animate every thing that will be fubfervient to his purpofe. He is allowed to exhibit not only what has already happened, but what he can imagine, without violence to reafon, may in future appear. Of the novelist, it may, with propriety, be faid, "Each change of many-colour'd life he drew, He may perfonify the virtues which he wishes to recommend, and may illuftrate them with examples; he may delineate interefting characters, and place them in interefting fituations. Sometimes he may pourtray a faithful picture of human life, "And catch the living manners as they rife:" Sometimes his obfervation will furnish him with the power of giving inftruction; fometimes his imagination will enable him to convey entertainment to the mind. He may introduce an affemblage of various characters; or he may fhew united, in one character, both virtuous and depraved qualities; from a confideration of which, the reader may perceive and determine what is valuable to adopt, and what it will be fafe to reject: from such a view he may be enabled to fafhion his own mind, to introduce into his heart many amiable affections, and to banish from it thofe harsh and rugged feelings and propenfities which may have taken root in it, like weeds in a rich foil. The very fingular work now before us, which produced the foregoing reflections, poffeffes confiderable merit. Much ingenuity is difplayed in the delineation of many of the characters. The author fhews great experience in the ways of men; and there is humour in the manner in which fome of the incidents are conducted. We obferved, however, with regret, feveral puns, which, though fairly and aptly applied, add little to the merit of these volumes; and notwithstanding all the allowance that we can reasonably make for Quixotifm, many fituations into which fome of the perfonages are introduced, are unnatural; and fome of the characters partake more of caricatura than of real life. We must declare, at the fame time, that the errors which we have noted, are not, in our opinion, the errors of a common writer; they proceed from an exuberance of imagination that hurries its poffeffor along, without permitting him to confult his judgment. Befide fhrewd remark, which is the offfpring of good fenfe, we difcover much information and learning. With respect to the latter, perhaps, we may fay, "Something too much of this." 9 The The author, however, poffeffes excellencies more than fuffi cient to counterbalance fuch partial defects, which in future may eafily be avoided, as not refulting from any deficiency of genius. S.R. ART. XIV. Obfervations on the pernicious Confequences of the exceffive Ufe of Spirituous Liquors, and the ruinous Policy of permitting Diftillation in this Country [Ireland]. 8vo. Pamphlet, printed at Dublin. 1788. T HE national grievance here complained of, with respect to the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ireland, appears, indeed, to be of moft enormous magnitude, and fuch as loudly and pathetically calls for redrefs. The lower ranks of people in that country, it is well known, are fo extremely addicted to the use of their common, pernicious, dram, whiskey, that it is become an evil of the moft alarming and ruinous confequence; and appears equally deftructive to the health and to the morals of the populace. The dreadful effects of their fondness for this intoxicating fpirit, and the prodigious excefs to which this miferable fpecies of inebriation is carried, with all its horrid effects, are here painted in the moft lively and glowing colours; and we do not doubt that the pencil of truth has alone been employed in the delineation. To remedy fuch fatal mischief, by at once ftriking at its root, the very fenfible and patriotic Author of thefe Obfervations propofes to the Parliament of Ireland, an entire and abfolute prohibition of the diftillery; and, certainly, this meafure would prove a radical cure for this political diforder: for if no whifky is made, none can be drank. He would not, however, deprive the labouring people of a proper and agreeable beverage: but instead of the baleful and poifonous liquid to which they have been too long unhappily accuftomed, he would fubftitute another, more innocent, more pleafant, and more wholefomePORTER-a liquor which gives pleasure, health, and strength, to the English labourer, without inebriety, and all thofe terrible effects which are daily experienced in Ireland, from the madnefs and exceffes of the whifkey drinkers. As a farther recommendation of his plan for encouraging the porter-brewery in Ireland, inftead of their prefent ruinous diftillery, he makes it appear, by proper eftimates and calculations, that government would fuftain no injury by the lofs of the duty on that pernicious ardent fpirit which he wishes to abolish; but that, on the contrary, the revenue would be greatly increased by the malt-duties: fo that, in point of policy, as well as of patriotifm (which, indeed, is true policy), there can be no reasonable or folid objection to the fcheme here fo earneftly and pathetically recommended. If it be objected that fpirits of another kind would ftill be ufed, if whiskey were annihilated, the Author fhews that the importation of brandy from France, cr of rum from the WeftIndies, would be attended with advantages to the revenue, which would amply compenfate for the former duties on the article which he hopes will be fuppreffed. He obferves, that thefe fpirits are imported in our own fhips, which encourages navigation; and they are received in return for our manufactures exported, which excites commerce. We therefore conclude, that the diftillation of whiskey is a lofs to the country, because the material would fell for more than the manufacture; that it is injurious to revenue, because it prevents the introduction of foreign fpirits, which pay treble the duty;. and that the importation of foreign fpirits is highly advantageous, as it promotes navigation and commerce, and encreases revenue.' Should it be imagined that the Author writes from interefted views, we can only copy his own declaration, on this head, for the fatisfaction of our readers: Neither felfifh or partial views have contributed, in any degree, to the production of this difcourfe; the Author writes. not from mercenary ends, nor with a view of injuring any denomination of traders; his fole motive is, to attempt the alleviation of mifery, and the diffufion of happinefs; and he hopes that the purity of the intention will procure an indulgent eye to the defects of the compofition.' SWIFT gained immortal honour by his letters against Wood's half-pence; and we think that the unknown Author [he is totally unknown to us] of this well-defigned tract is not leis entitled to the grateful acknowlegements of his countrymen, for the very laudable exertion of his refpectable talents, on a fubject of infinitely higher importance to the welfare of the community to which he belongs. G. ART. XV. The Poetry of Anna Matilda: Containing a Tale for Jealoufy, the Funeral, her Correfpondence with Della Crufca, and feveral other poetical Pieces. To which are added Recollections, printed from an Original Manufcript, written by General Sir William Waller. 12mo. 3s. 6d. fewed. Bell. 1788. WE as Poetry of the World", to E expected, as the publication of this little volume was fubfequent to that of the Poetry of the World*, to find in it more last words of Anna Matilda, notwithstanding her former poems concluded with telling us, Her book was clos'dher lyre was broke.' But we were agreeably difappointed. The poems of this fair incognita which appear in this little col * See Review for November laft, p. 449. 7 lection |